Uchū no Hanten
by Galdr
Summary: He was the Hokage and married to a beautiful wife. He was starting a family soon. Well, that'd been the plan until he'd been ripped away from it by unknown means and landed in another Konoha. Hold on; his body's been reduced to a toddler size, too? And were those his parents? This is a genjutsu, right? "This is fan-freaking-tastic, Kurama." [AR/dimension hopping]
1. Empty Space out of Nowhere

Disclaimer: As you all should know, I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. Both belong to and are copyrighted to Kishimoto Masashi. I'm just a fan of the series, don't sue me. (Has anyone noticed Shippuden has the word "ship" in it? Maybe it was a hint that the series 'ships' pairings together -shot-)

(chapter title inspiration: Phantasy Star Online: Episode 1 and 2)

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_Uchū no Hanten_  
宇宙の反転  
'The Universe's Inversion'

Empty Space out of Nowhere

1

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-x- Saturday, September 23, Year 419 NE (Ninja Era) -x-

From inside the office within the Hokage Tower, a young man that was twenty-two years old stood proudly. He was looking out the large windows, watching his village with careful, cerulean blue eyes. The village had grown in both scale and population—buildings he'd help oversee the construction to were much taller than the ones in his past. The time of day was close to 5:00 in the evening, a time he could set aside. As his gaze roved over every aspect of the place he'd come to love and grow up in, his eyes briefly made contact with the distant mountain behind Konohagakure.

The Hokage Monument had the previous Hokage's faces upon it; the Shodaime, Hashirama Senju, the Nidaime, Tobirama Senju, the Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi—affectionately labeled as "Jiji" in his past—his father, the Yondaime Minato Namikaze; his self appointed grandmother figure, the granddaughter and grandniece to the First and Second Hokage respectively, Tsunade Senju; the Rokudaime, his sensei, who had been taught by the Fourth, Kakashi Hatake, and lastly himself, the Nanadaime Naruto Uzumaki. Above the mountain stood the new, recently built skyscraper buildings that towered the entire village.

Taking a deep breath which soon turned into a grunt of agonizing pain, Naruto shot his eyes to the empty space next to his head's stone carving. Soon, very soon, there would be a Hachidaime.

With everything that had happened over the last six years of his life, the peace that the Elemental Nations were in was well deserved. The other Kages and their villages were all in good terms with another; no malice between the other, however a few skirmishes of bandits here and there still occurred. From the horrible experience of the Wave mission to the corrupted Akatsuki, Madara Uchiha's insane plans, the ensuing battles that took place and to the eventual sealing of Kaguya Otsutsuki , it was all worth it. Many sacrifices had to be made to get to this point, but with the help of his friends, his precious teammates, he was able to accomplish the impossible.

He may not be wearing the Hokage robes at the moment, namely because he didn't want to—he didn't like the colors so much, now that he thought about it, but he'd _never_ tell anyone that except his wife—however, he donned his specially made haori. It was a cream colored cloak, the kanji "Nanadaime Hokage" imprinted on the back in dark red. He also had the kanji for "Nine" underneath that, symbolic for what he was: the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, and the red flame pattern around the edges just like his father's had been. Underneath, he wore a deep orange-red shirt, with black stripes around the sleeves edges and black pants. Upon his feet, he wore matching black sandals, very similar to ones his second sensei, Jiraiya—whom he endearingly called 'Ero-sennin'—purchased for him during his two and half year training trip. The hitai-ate he was currently holding had the kanji for "Shinobi" upon it, reminding him of his and his friends' struggles through the extreme battle of the Fourth Shinobi War. However, he held it within in prosthetic right arm, which was wrapped up in bandages. It had been severed during his last clash with his best friend.

His spiky blond hair, which had grown out over the years, was trimmed shorter than when he was younger, which was a great feel of independence. His tan skin was still as it was, with his unique three whisker-like birthmarks upon each side of his cheeks. His voice had outgrown its childishness, replaced by a firm volume that captured anyone's attention instantly. The shape of his eyes remained slightly unchanged, as with the bright cerulean shade it held.

While it seemed like he was simply idling the time away, he was in fact waiting for a few individuals to come. He had sent out the fastest messenger hawk to summon one of them from his self imposed journey a week ago. Today, he used messenger toads to summon the others. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long. Some force within him was drawing him to abrupt standstills, or in other cases, was drawing him away from the realm of the living. There were often an occasion that he had trouble waking up from his slumber and with assistance from his Tailed Beast companion was he able to rise out of his bed.

Stubbornly, he forced it down, wanting to prolong what was to come for him. He knew he wasn't going to like what he would say to them when they arrived, and he knew they wouldn't like it, either. But, it was inevitably happening, and leaving without telling anyone his fate would be less than pleasing. The fact that whatever is trying to pull him away from this plane of existence was growing stronger, much stronger than he ever thought.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for long. He sensed the familiar chakra signatures outside the door. With a strong voice, he simply said, "Enter."

Opening the door was an older man, most likely in his becoming forties, with silver hair in an peculiar gravity defying style, garbed in the standard jōnin attire but had his face covered. Normally his hitai-ate would have been covering his left eye out of habit, but this time, it wasn't. He also would have a typical book and reading it about now, but again, he wasn't. His dark grey eyes, both of them, settled on the young man behind the desk, staring out the window passionately.

The next person to enter was a young woman, twenty-two herself, with pink hair and green eyes. She didn't wear the shinobi attire; rather, she had on a modest red and pink dress on with brown sandals on her feet. She kept her bubblegum colored hair short for all intents and purposes. This woman carried herself proudly, and she was the head medic of Konoha's hospital. Upon the center of her forehead was the Strength of a Hundred Seal.

Next to her was another young woman, the same age as the other kunoichi, with midnight blue hair trailing down to her backside. She was also dressed modestly, with a cream blouse, lavender vest and skirt, that reached beyond her knees with brown mid-calf pants underneath. Her sandals were also black like the Hokage's. What stood her apart from the female with pink hair was that she was around four months into her pregnancy.

The next young man within the same age group as the previous duo shunshin'd inside. He was dressed oddly, wearing mostly dark colored clothes under a long cloak that covered his entire body, only leaving his right arm and legs exposed. Around his head was the same material as his cloak only wrapped around a few times, giving him the appearance of a mummy. He, too, also wore black sandals and carried his sheathed katana behind him. He was obviously missing his left arm, but unlike the Hokage, he refused to have a prosthetic arm crafted for him.

Also via a shunshin, another young man—a teenager around the age of fifteen—was present in the room as well. His brown spiky hair was cut to a reasonable length, though his sides were long enough to frame his face. The teen also had dark, black eyes—dissimilar to the deceased Uchiha Clan, however. He wore the Konoha hitai-ate, a jade green and black zip-up jacket, dark grey pants, shinobi sandals and bandage wraps around his arms in a manner similar to Rock Lee.

The last person to stroll in was the Hokage's adviser and personal guard. He had black hair, shaped similarly close to a pineapple and wore casual, simple clothes. They consisted of a black shirt, a white, short sleeve vest that wasn't buttoned up, simple grey pants and shinobi sandals adorning his feet. He also had a budding beard and wore his clan's symbol in the form of a necklace.

"Hokage-sama," all six said in unison, bowing respectively.

"Rise, it's all right." The Nanadaime said as he turned around to face them. He went towards the desk and silently activated sound-barrier seals throughout the room. Once done, the six stood up, curious. Normally, such seals weren't needed when discussing something, unless they were large scale of importance. For this to occur...they had their suspicions on alert.

"I understand you all are wondering about why I summoned you here." A collection of acknowledgment met him and he continued, "I'll get straight to the point since there isn't a reason to sugar coat this; something's wrong with me. I've tried to block it out for some time but it looks like whatever it is, it's trying to kill me." His blue eyes met each one of theirs.

"What? How is that possible?" the teenager asked in utter disbelief, which was one of the question's on everyone's mind. His dark eyes could only stare at the man who had been like a brother figure to him for so long.

The Nanadaime Hokage turned his attention on the teen. "For the moment, Konohamaru, I only understand it as being forcibly reverse-summoned and draining of my chakra. However, none of the Toads have any clue why that is. I've consulted Kurama about it, and he told me he felt the same thing."

"So, he has no idea what's going on, either?" Naruto's adviser, Shikamaru Nara, asked, getting his mind reeling with possible outcomes and reasons. It's only been a few minutes and it was already becoming a troublesome situation.

"No," He paused, his audience hanging on every word as he spoke. "It wasn't long when I started noticing strange symptoms happening to me a few months ago."

"Symptoms?" The pink-haired female, Sakura Haruno, was next to inquire although fearfully. The others remained silent.

"Yes. When they started, it first began as pulses of chakra attaching to mine. Like strings," The Hokage began explaining as he walked around his desk, standing in front of the six he trusted with all his heart. "I caught onto the oddities using Sage Mode and disrupted them easily by flaring my chakra until it dissipated. However, a week later, they were back, but more than last time. Again, I managed to detach them with Sage Mode and everything seemed fine. However, they kept reappearing after being disrupted, with more than the last. They were also becoming harder to destroy and each time they 'latch' onto my chakra, it was being drained little by little, and difficult to recover it, even using soldier pills.

"The last few attempts, Kurama came to the front and used his chakra to destroy them but... since last month, we've both been combining our chakra, trying to pinpoint the hidden assailant, but to no avail. Whoever they are, their intent is to bring me down or take Kurama, as he's felt the tug as well. It's becoming difficult to rest without keeping up a mental defense up throughout the night. The pull has been growing strong, too strong to just resist it. I don't know how much longer I have until whatever it is...gets me. But don't worry, I'm not going down without a fight, but in the off chance it succeeds, I'm entrusting the future of Konoha to you six, especially you, Konohamaru."

When he finished his explanation as best as possible, his most trusted people in his life could only stare in absolute shock and worry. This man in front of them, who went up against all odds in his youth and beginning adulthood, was slowly being taken from them. Just as he wouldn't give up, they won't either.

"Naruto," the dark-haired man, Sasuke Uchiha, began, staring into his friend's deep pools of blue, "I understand what you've been enduring. I've been lightly aware of it, like a phantom pain," Naruto blinked in sudden surprise. With a frown, the former avenger continued, "Try not to forget that Hagoromo granted me equal powers to yours during our fight against Kaguya. While that power may not be with us, a portion of it manifests. To an extent, we can still sense one another," Sasuke said, the last bit coming out slower than usual. This man, despite everything he had done in the past, was the current Hokage's best friend. In fact, they considered themselves brothers and promised one another to remain at each other's side until death does them apart. Unfortunately, something close to death was about to tear that bond apart.

"Can...can this be reversed?" The dark-haired woman Hinata Uzumaki, his wife, asked, her pale eyes worriedly set on the Nanadaime. She suddenly clasped her stomach as if preparing for the child within in her womb to make a bold complaint. The blond turned to her, frowning deeply. He really didn't like saying this to her, but there was nothing he could say to get around it. No, it was best that she know everything.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I don't know," She gasped at this, and he knew her heart was already in the process of crumbling. He'd have to remedy that soon. "I looked over nearly every text available that could be close to determining this issue but I haven't been successful as I would have liked to be."

Kakashi Hatake, the silver-haired man and the ex-Rokudaime Hokage, spoke up next, "Have you tried alleviating it with your reversed engineered Six Paths Sage technique?" The response from his former student was a somber, disapproving shake of his head.

"I've tried it before, Kakashi-sensei. If anything, that technique seemed to speed up the process."

"Naruto..." Hinata gasped fearfully under her breath. This couldn't be happening! This has to be a mistake or a nightmare! Not after all their hardships together, their struggles and their relationship as well. Why now? When they'd only been married for a year and a half now? When they could finally start a family? The former Hyuga heiress knew she suspected her husband was hiding something but he told her he would tell her in due time. That was why they were here...now she knew why. Why did he keep it from her floated through her mind, and the answer came instantly: he didn't want her, or anyone, to worry. Selfless and selfish of him.

Sakura, seeing Hinata's reaction, glared at the blond. "Naruto! Why would you wait this long to tell us? What about everyone else?" She asked, raising her voice in her growing temper. While she wanted to stay respectful to her Hokage, there were some old habits that just wouldn't die. Shouting at her former teammate who had usually said or did something stupid. This was one of them and she was genuinely concerned for him. "Did you think we shouldn't have known about it or—?"

"Sakura, the reason I hadn't informed anyone until now because there were a few reasons why," he returned her glare with a passive glance, one that didn't harbor any anger for being disrespected nor any of the sort. When he got their attention again, he continued once more, "The number one reason is because everyone would have started panicking just like you did and ask me questions that I do not have many answers to. Can't you imagine the uproar of the people if they were told this? There would've been in an outrage."

The room went silent after that. None of them said another word, only breathed the air around them. It was tense, they knew, but...

"...Permission to speak freely, Hokage-sama." came Kakashi's formal voice. Naruto knew that when his former teacher used his title on him, that meant he was up to something.

"Permission granted, Hatake-san."

Kakashi nodded, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth, his eyes still upon his former student. "Naruto, what have you planned to do now that this...is happening?" The man remained as calm as he possibly could while attempting to block out the worst of his fears.

Naruto glanced at his former sensei and nodded. "There's not much I can do. I've tried everything at my disposal to locate the person responsible... However, I've already written down everything that I want in these scrolls here." He unsealed three separate scrolls that were on his person and gave two of them to Shikamaru, his trusted adviser. However, the last one, he gave to Konohamaru. "Only you six are able to see what's inside. My condition is an S-rank secret, and not to be mentioned outside this room. The contents inside the scrolls also follow. In a nutshell, what are written inside is my will."

The Nanadaime turned his gaze intently on Sasuke, the Uchiha returning it. He was scared, but kept it back. Sasuke noticed, when he squinted, he could see the tell-tale signs of a distortion and flickering particles of light emitting from his best friend's body. They were floating off slowly, like if he were performing some jutsu without hand signs. It was possible given who the young man was, but Sasuke knew Naruto wouldn't purposefully eliminate himself. No, his senses were correct when he felt Naruto's chakra signature lessening slowly every day. The man was using willpower alone to hold on for as long as he could, just to stand here in front of them.

"Naruto... your body..."

"I know, Sasuke. That's one of the visible symptoms of me rejecting the... 'Chakra strings', as I call them."

Wordlessly, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and immediately picked out the foreign chakra that was present within his friend's body. Not only that, he could faintly make out hundreds of 'strings' Naruto spoke of. They were currently tied down to the man's chakra, siphoning little bits of it as well as the vibrant red chakra that signaled the Kyubi's. He didn't know he let out a gasp of shock until he had everyone's attention on him.

"S-Sasuke-san?" Hinata called worriedly, feeling a bit light-headed.

"Hinata, activate your Byakugan and take a look at Naruto."

The pregnant woman, feeling even more dread, did so and covered her mouth to halt her squeak of surprise. Her eyes had found the same issue Sasuke found, however to a formidable degree. Instead of seeing hundreds of those 'strings' she actually saw _thousands_ of them. They were like leeches, attracting and devouring her husband's chakra as if he were a magnet. "N-Naruto..." She could barely keep standing and her clan's dōjutsu activated at the same time. The Uzumaki matriarch nearly collapsed but was caught quickly by her husband. The others were on high alert by this action, and Sakura quickly rushed to the former Hyūga's side, immediately scanning her condition with her green, glowing hands present.

"Hinata!" Naruto grew terrified and ushered her to the nearest chair post-haste, ignoring every ache that creaked as he moved. Damn it, it was getting harder.

"She's fine, and so is the baby," Sakura reassured them—more to Naruto than the others—as she finished administering the medical ninjutsu and her quick diagnosis. "Just a little bit of stress. She needs to remain seated for a while to rest and regain the chakra she used for activating her Byakugan." The blond sighed in utter relief but never left his wife's side. He chided himself mentally for causing her such strain. Once the room settled down from the tension, the only present teenager made himself known.

"So, Sasuke-san? How bad is it? Is Naruto-niichan going to be okay...?" Konohamaru asked hurriedly, glancing to the man in question. When the Uchiha didn't answer his trailing query, he grunted a loud to get his attention. "Hey, answer me! Please, tell us what you two see!"

"..._Naruto,_" Sasuke started, his right eye deactivating his clan's kekkai genkai while he narrowed his eyes at his Hokage. "Those things you described are leeching off of you."

"How bad? Is there a chance we could disrupt them and figure out how they keep returning?" Kakashi, having been slightly afraid of asking, did so anyway.

"That wouldn't be a good idea, Kakashi," Shikamaru said, having overheard everything so far and came up with a possible, conclusive theory. "We've been told that Naruto had started out destroying them by flaring his chakra. We know that they returned in a week's time, with more of these 'strings' attaching to his chakra flow and absorbing it. Every time he has done this, it gets more difficult." The Nara paused momentarily to exchange a knowing look from Naruto, "By the looks of it, you've made the situation worse. By expelling your chakra to those 'strings', it appears you may have sent more of it through them, like receivers, and they responded back by amplifying their quantity and strength."

"**I think... Your Nara friend... is correct.**"

'_I feel he may be right, too._' Naruto thought back to his inner companion. It pained him to hear Kurama speak with such weakness; the Bijū himself was doing everything in his might to sever the strings' attachment on the both of them, to no such success. Just staying in his current standing position was taxing Naruto's willpower.

Sakura looked down in remorse after Shikamaru finished explaining his theory. She was still in denial herself, but...now that she had a better look at Naruto, he looked like he was in light pain just by standing there. If only she could have seen it sooner, she and Tsunade-sama could have at least attempted to finding a way to help him! It wasn't fair. He always helped them in some way, shape or form. Why, why couldn't she ever return the favor? While in her personal monologue of thoughts, Kakashi silently observed his ex-students, Naruto's wife, his adviser and the Sandaime's grandson. If only there could have been something he could have done...

"Kakashi-sensei, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sasuke, Konohamaru, Hinata," Naruto spoke all of their names with a pained smile evidently masked with a false smile. Unfortunately for him, they saw right through it.

"Naruto," Hinata gently touched his face with her free hand, her lavender eyes filled with such overwhelming worry that it hurt. "Please... Don't smile like that." The blond let his fake smile drop, replaced with another pained expression. Without her Byakugan active, she could still see right through him and differentiate between his real and unreal smiles.

"Sorry, Hinata," his left hand met and stroked her face as tenderly as he could, "I didn't mean to make you—"

"Shh, it's... it's okay. It's all going to."

Hinata lightly trembled under his touch, in fear that he would drop dead at any given moment. Her mind was still in denial, still believing this was some cruel joke or a well-thought out genjutsu. But, she could still _feel_ him. He was still beside her right now. Although it was true, why did she feel like crying her heart out. "W-why couldn't..." Hinata tried but couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. Naruto seemingly knew where it was going and answered anyway.

"I don't know," The blond held his wife in his arms, bringing her close as possible. He truly had no answers, aside from Shikamaru's plausible conclusion. "I'm sorry." He only hoped he was currently experiencing wasn't worsening or anything.

"**Dammit... Naruto... It's back!"** the low rumble of the nine-tailed Bijū's voice echoed within his conscience. The Nanadaime cursed to himself as he jinxed himself. "**The strain... it's... d-draining...**"

'_Kurama, hang on!_' Naruto internally and physically panicked.

The large fox tried to reply, but he was growing weaker by the second. "**...C-can't stay...awake... Need...to rest...**"

'_Kurama! Don't, if either one of us fall asleep, they'll multiply and suck us dry!_'

"**I... I'm... s-sorry Naruto...**"

'_Damn, this isn't going well. I need more time!_' the Seventh Hokage could only count down mentally in slow motion for how long it'd take for his tailed beast friend to fall into his slumber. Because the Nine-Tails was fueling and cycling their chakra in rotation to keep as many of those 'strings' at bay while Naruto himself focused on finding solutions. Now that the Kyūbi was succumbing to slumber, Naruto would soon follow suit as the Jinchūriki.

The visible symptoms were slowing making themselves known as the time ticked away. Naruto stubbornly gripped his wife's hand as hard as he could, though his eyes were growing heavier. The noises around him were beginning to buzz as useless sound to his ears. He could hear them call his name over and over, but they sounded so far away. '_Kurama, please... don't fall asleep..._' Naruto called out to his inner friend. His pleas fell on deaf ears, unfortunately, and he could only strain himself to remain focused. Every color in the room mashed together like a blur and suddenly, the room started to spin.

"—UTO!"

"NA—TO!"

Their screams sounded muffled to him, as if he were surrounded by soundproof walls, reinforced with chakra sealing formulas. The blond Uzumaki didn't even realize when he had unwillingly released Hinata's hand. He didn't realize when he had collapsed to the ground. He didn't realize when he felt nothing when his body hit the floor, either. Everything around him felt so dull, so tasteless. He hadn't known that sweat was running profusely down his face, nor was he aware that his left hand had clammed up. But what he could feel, was that his very essence felt like it was being eaten _alive_.

Naruto couldn't feel his chakra circulating through his body any longer, but he was strangely still aware of his surroundings. Just barely. He could feel other arms around him and lifting him up. He could feel they were rushing him somewhere. The hospital was his guess. Suddenly, the only color was white, then it blurred about until it was grey. The next thing he could faintly make out was faint blonde and amber conjoined together. He knew those colors only belonged to one person.

"...Baa-chan..."

"Even if you're a grown man, you better not die on me, gaki!" He could definitely hear the medic-nin's threatening plea, full of grief. But she, like the others, sounded like if she were behind a concrete wall. Gosh dammit, why did this happen so soon? He should have had more time to discuss what he wanted to tell them. People, he assumed, were moving all around him, rushing to grab essential tools and utensils necessary. Their voices, while still sounding muffled to him, were going nonstop.

Gentle but worried hands that he recognized were on his face, and drips of salty water fell onto his face. "Naruto!" The voice cried and the blond, while feeling his consciousness slip into the recess of his mind, unable to take control, tried to claw back to his wife's voice.

'_Hinata!_' Naruto yelled, feeling himself slipping away even further as she called to him over and over. No, no, no, no! The more he tried to struggle and force himself forward, the harder it was to take control. Those damned strings had finally latched on the only thing it hadn't taken from him—his soul. While it was being pushed back into his subconsciousness as a result of his chakra being siphoned—thus weakening his body physically—the strings dragged his very essence away from the spiritual connection of his body.

Dammit!

The last thing Naruto heard before the complete darkness took him over was the sound of Hinata's pained cry of his name.

* * *

-x- Unknown Location -x-

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The entire layout of this location was filled with unending grey blocks of surfaces, stretching far and wide without ceasing. The pits below led to nowhere but an abyss, most likely a never ending death to those foolish enough to test their bravery. Everywhere was the same gray scale of colors; everything was colorless as far as the eye could virtually see.

However, on one of those small surfaces lied a rather colorful splash against the doom and gloom atmosphere. Lying face up in a puddle of clothing, as a batch of blond, spiky hair, that was identical to the sun's rays. Looming over the pile was a man with dark, spiky hair that shot out in every direction. He wore a mask over his face, that was designed to look like a crescent moon. He wore dark colored shirt, pants, shinobi sandals, and had a katana sheathed and strapped to his back. The last notable thing was a familiar symbol imprinted on the back of the man's shirt.

"...Interesting... so the technique worked after all. Who knew the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities could be further extended when multiple users joined together...?" the man spoke his thoughts a loud, knowing full well his guest was out cold. "I shall inform the leader of this development and see if our plans revolving Konoha's Jinchūriki will still be in place."

One moment he was there, the next, he was gone, via a time-space ninjutsu.

A few minutes after the mysterious man's departure, the pile of clothes moved on its own as if possessed by a ghost. It wiggled around until the head popped out, revealing more of the sunshine locks, large, cerulean eyes, and unique whisker marks on the face. It was the Hero of Konohagakure, the Seventh Fire Shadow, Naruto Uzumaki. However, something seemed quite different...

'_Where am I?_' He wondered as he tried to adjust his eyes to the colorless and empty atmosphere. He had a terrible headache, as if he had awakened from a horrible hangover. When they did, he blinked and rubbed his eyes. '_All right. Either whatever happened to me was a horrible nightmare or..._' When he reopened his eyes and took a _real _good look around, they widened in shock. '_Okay Naruto, this is a Kamui dimension. This is not what I expected to wake up in. If this is Sasuke's stupid idea of a joke, I'm going to strangle him, man to man._' His face twisted into a low frown as he tried to stand up.

His attempted was thwarted by the evil that were a pile of clothes.

'_What in the world?_' Naruto groaned bitterly as he tried again, only to stumble in his futile endeavor to stand. '_Ah, the problem is here. My foot's just tangled right here. Hm, unhook here and... it's out._' He wiggled his feet together and then stood up perfectly fine. The Uzumaki felt something was incredibly off but couldn't pinpoint it just yet.

'_It's unfortunate, but it looks like I'm stuck in this dimension until Sasuke willingly lets me out. Gosh dang it. This is the last time I'm going drinking and joking with that bastard._' While he was irritable, he didn't honestly mean that harsh comment. The Uchiha was—still is—his best friend that he worked hard and long to save from his darkness. '_Better check and see how Kurama's doing. He'll probably scold me for that and not help with this headache._' Taking a deep breath, Naruto sat into his usual meditative position, relaxed himself as much as possible while closing his eyes. When he felt the light pull, he took the initiative and delved into his mind to reach his furry companion.

He expected his mindscape, having changed from that dreary sewer to the brightened, sunshine appearance. What he got was the opposite—it was the sewer again! The only thing that changed about it was that it seemed more clearer and the water was mostly gone. Unfortunately, it returned but only as a shallow amount. What the hell happened? Filing the oddity away for the time being, Naruto scurried ahead, slightly panicking until he found the familiar chamber where his companion of twenty-two years resided.

When his eyes landed on the slumbering mountain of fur, curled up in a ball (Naruto wouldn't dare call Kurama 'cute' in fear the Bijū might revoke their friendship and eat him) he sighed in deep relief. He knew he panicked for nothing, but he still couldn't put his finger on it. Naruto couldn't recall the last time the Nine-Tails fell asleep due to what appeared to be chakra exhaustion. '_Hm, another oddity to think about later,_' he thought and decided to wake up the fuzzball.

"Hey, Kurama, wake up."

Nothing.

"Wake up, Fuzzbutt."

Nope.

"Come on, fuzzy. Don't make me tickle you."

He tried tickling. Kurama didn't budge.

"Wow, that got him last time I attempted. Maybe because we weren't sober from when we went drinking out with Kiba that one time..." Naruto pondered until another idea hit him.

"Oh furball, I have bacon."

No reaction.

"He's resisting bacon. He must _really_ be exhausted then."

"**Naruto, shut up, I'm trying to sleep.**" Finally, some sort of response! The blond grinned as he stepped forward and patted the fox on his head, where the gigantic eyes of the sleepy kitsune were glaring daggers at him.

"Good, you're finally awake. I was honestly getting worried about you."

The bakegitsune shuffled a bit until he was lying his large head atop his front paws and watched his host intently. "**Something drained me of my chakra, large quantities of it, which forced me into a induced hibernation,**" he began explaining, still feeling tired, "**To be quite honest, I have recovered a little under a fourth of my chakra. It seems to be returning at a slower pace for some reason... Whatever the cause had been, it felt unpleasant.**"

Naruto nodded in agreement, having sat down beside Kurama and folded his hands underneath his chin in a manner worthy of Sasuke. "I woke up not too long ago with an infuriating headache. It felt like that time I went out with Kiba and when you refused to help me through it."

"**Of course,**" his companion huffed lightly, "**You were being a brat again and didn't listen to me when I told you to stop after the fifteenth round. Thus I refused my healing services.**"

"You cared so much you were being a jerk."

"**Quite.**"

His Jinchūriki didn't have a comeback for that. Both remained in a relatively companionable silence for a while. During this time, the blond had gone through his memories and came down to some haunting truths. What happened earlier; his blacking out, the noises muffling out and his vision going haywire as Kurama had fallen asleep... It had happened. He hoped it was just a terrible nightmare, but...

"**It...really happened, didn't it?**" Knowing exactly what he was talking about, Naruto nodded somberly. After exhaling a low sigh, Kurama spoke up again, "**I'm sorry. If I hadn't fallen asleep... If I hadn't succumbed to the pressure... We would still be there.**"

Naruto shook his head in disagreement. "It's not your fault. It's more on me. I asked you to help me, and you could have stopped me but you believed in me that I could find an answer while you kept the effects at bay. So, for that, it's me, my friend. I offer my apologies to you."

"**We'll never get anywhere if we blame ourselves for the past mistake, so for our sake, we shall both take it.**"

"Sounds fair," the blond agreed. He scratched his head as he glanced around his mindscape. "Man, I had thought I'd rid of this and changed it over the years. Being married, becoming Hokage, and with a child on the way changed the way I thought of myself. Now it's back to square one." The Seventh Hokage was bitter that the incident ripped him away from his family and friends. He and Hinata had learned, when she was three months in, that they were having a boy. Technology had evolved and expanded, thankfully.

But, his son...

Naruto frowned deeply as he thought about his unborn child and Hinata's well being. He had more time to think about it, but he was sure he and his friend were stuck in a Kamui dimension. The only one capable of that was Sasuke, and the Uzumaki knew the former avenger wouldn't have been so cruel as to use the technique on him. Or, maybe he did and was trying to save him from his demise? If so, maybe he wouldn't be so angry at his friend and thankful his last minute idea did the trick. However, deep down, it didn't feel like something Sasuke would do.

"**Naruto,**" Kurama's voice broke into his thoughts, "**I may have not paid much attention to you since you were nineteen but... ****Since when have you been this puny?**"

All right, that was unexpected and out of the blue. Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the furry chakra monster while his expression read complete bafflement. "Kurama, you know you're like thirty skyscrapers high compared to my height. I've always been smaller than you because I'm a human." The bakegitsune shook his head and held up one of his claws to the blond.

"**No, Naruto. I didn't mean that. I mean, since when have you looked like you were a midget brat?**" the Bijū rephrased his question. "**I understand most humans don't look the same, but this is ridiculous. You haven't been that height since you were around three years old.**"

Blinking and utterly confused, Naruto stood up and looked down into his reflection to see what the heck Kurama was going on about. What he saw nearly made him scream. His right arm, the one that had been severed, was there. But it was pudgy and skinny, as if all his baby fat decided to return. His legs, now that he recalled, felt so much shorter. He examined them and noticed their were many sizes too small. His tiny hands patted his face, smacking his cheeks down when he felt the flabby and puffy cheeks toddlers have before reaching their childhood stage. His hair, once short, was back to its original form when he had been this size.

Weirdly enough, the scars that didn't heal properly remained, much like his Chidori scar.

But other than that...

"I'm a freaking kid again?!" Naruto all but yelled in disbelief. He took several breaths to calm himself down before continuing his rant. "Did all that leeching suck out my age, too?" He was being half sarcastic here but it still had warranted the question regardless. Shaking his head in light fury, Naruto wondered, "Does this mean I have to go through puberty all over again or is this some sort of joke?"

"**I do not... believe this is a joke, Naruto. To me, you still feel as if you are twenty-two, yet in a way, you also feel much younger than that. Is your physical body the same as here?**"

Oh, right! He quickly exited his mindscape and into the physical realm, where he had deduced his situation in the Kamui dimension. Opening his eyes from his meditative position, the blond held out his hands in front of him and groaned. He didn't need to check the rest of himself to figure out he reflected what he looked like in his subconsciousness. '_This is dreadful. How in the world did this happen? I'm beginning to wonder if those leeching strings were draining my soul and chakra or all of me in particular._' He glared down at his midget feet and frowned. It actually looked more like a toddler pouting because he didn't get his favorite toy.

'_I can't exactly figure this out, no matter how much I think about it. What I'd give to have Shikamaru's genius mind and advise to help out right now..._' Naruto ran his tiny hand through his wild and untamed hair. His body somehow reverted into toddler size and he couldn't figure out too many guesses as to why this odd phenomenon happened. Kurama was just as clueless as he was, so even if they brainstormed the idea together, they wouldn't get any closer to the actual solution. '_I best stop moping around and figure out what I'm going to do with my much too large clothes now._'

Best to accept this and move on than not.

Taking steps towards his discarded clothing, Naruto picked up his shirt he had been wearing and the mesh that he'd been wearing underneath. He separated them with slight difficulty—being that his tiny fingers got tangled up and he had unwind those first before continuing his task—and pulled the shirt over his small frame. Instead of fitting his muscle-toned body like he was used to, it looked more like a dress now. It took some time, but he managed to adjust the oversized shirt to fit him as comfortably as possible. The rest of his stuff, it was no dice, so he didn't even bother.

Naruto felt completely naked without any underwear on, but he couldn't do anything about that.

'_If this is all my stuff from then... I should have had those blank scrolls—ah!_' The man-turned-boy smiled a bit as he found, in his pants pocket, the blank scrolls he carried on his person. He'd been getting into the sealing arts his clan, the Uzumaki, had been known for and took a deep interest in whatever he could find. Most of it were trial and error, and he felt he got the hang of it. He was nowhere near mastery level like his mother, father and Ero-sennin, but he created a seal that allowed him to use two nature chakra and combine them to form a temporary nature transformation. So far, he had much interest he using what was known as the Scorch Release and practiced with it whenever he could.

He hadn't bothered with the other types yet, having set his focus on that nature transformation type.

Anyway, back to the present, Naruto took out one of his blank scrolls, opened it up and prepared to seal the rest of his things into it. To the best of his ability, he folded his haori, undergarments, pants and placed his shinobi sandals and old bandage wrappings in place and properly sealed them away. With that done, he rolled up the scroll and collapsed it into his miniature hands. With nowhere to go in this colorless world of the Kamui dimension, he was stuck.

Then, the unexpected happened again: his stomach growled.

"Great," Naruto frowned (because he certainly _wasn't_ pouting, no siree!) and flopped back down on his rear. "I'm stuck in this dimension, stuck in this underage of a body that has the mentality of a three or four year old toddler, I don't know how I wound up here in the first place and I'm hungry. I'd kill for a bowl of Old Man Teuchi's ramen right about now. Fan-_freaking_-tastic!"

"**Stop pouting and stop acting like a brat. You're the Nanadaime Hokage; start acting like it.**"

"I'm not pouting and I'm not acting like a brat," Naruto denied with utmost certainty. "I honestly think it's this new body of mine that's making me react this way."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "**Sure, blame the body.**"

"If I ever get something to eat, I'm going to eat a ton of bacon and you won't get any of it."

"**You wouldn't dare.**"

"Oh, I _would_."

"**Now I'm convinced; you're _definitely_ acting like a brat now.**"

Bijū and Jinchūriki gave each other a death glare that could have started forest fires due to all the sparks building up between them. Their banters, while playful and meaningless at times, usually lightened the mood if a situation escalated far beyond their control and drew upon tension as it dragged on. Kurama was mostly trying to distract the boy, or man or whatever he was now, in high hopes he'd focus on getting them out of here.

However, just as their staring contest was coming to a conclusion, Naruto suddenly yawned and stretched. Strangely, he felt tired now. "Ah, who cares anymore," he lamely gave up and decided was the best time to take a nap. Why he thought that when he could possibly be in a hostile environment ran by him wordlessly. "I think I'll work on it after I sleep..."

Feeling something bad would happen once the idiot stopped being aware of his surroundings, Kurama attempted to get him preoccupied with something else. "**Naruto, how about we work on something of yours, like chakra control? Just in case it hasn't dwindled from your unusual shrinkage,**" His response was met with an extended yawn and a half glare.

"It's too bothersome... I'll do it later."

"**Naruto, don't go to sleep.**"

"But I'm really tired, Kurama." The blond replied, which nearly sounded like a kiddish whine. "Ugh, man. I really need sleep if I'm 'whining' like that. Feels so embarrassing."

"**Naruto—**"

"...What?"

"**Don't fall asleep. Whatever you do, don't—**"

The fox didn't know how, but in those short couple of seconds, his Jinchūriki was already out like a light. He had curled into a ball and dozed off faster than he could say 'Ramen' out loud. Watching and listening to the now stated child sleep like a rock (again), Kurama sighed deeply. '**_I'll just have to keep my senses open as he rests. To be honest, I'm still not caught up on my own sleep. Perhaps if I exercise minimal use of my chakra, I could recover a little more at a time without giving up my awareness._**' He thought and shifted again until he was comfortable. '**_Naruto, I hope you think of something to get us out of here. I have a bad feeling about this whole thing we've been caught up into._**'

* * *

Revision of Chapter 1, done! Hope you all liked it.

In regards to some of the reviewers from _Bloodbound_, I have changed some things around, like Kushina surviving as an example. She's one of my favorite characters so I felt really bad for killing her off last time. That's the only one I'll tell you though, so for the rest, please look forward to the next chapter's revision.

I tried to keep Naruto in-character, or as much as possible.

Also, I've taken concepts from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky versions about the time traveling and the fabric of space. I did the same for the fanfiction _The Nearest Place to the Heaven_, as well. Anyway, ciao!

Edited: 8/23/2015


	2. Radiant Souls

Thanks so much for the support! For those from the original _Bloodbound_, this is where the change comes in. For future reference from here on out, I'll switch from the different dimensions. Underline in the line breaks signifies from Naruto's time. _Italics_ in the line breaks signifies the alternate time.

I realized in the last chapter the "Naruto-kun" in there. Lol. Was supposed to be just "Naruto" silly auto correct, typing's for kids!

Okay, I'm done joking, enjoy please!

Warning: There is swearing. If it makes you queasy, I apologize. It's not everywhere by the way, just sometimes there. Forgot to mention this in the first chapter. OK, no more author notes; onto le chapter.

(chapter title inspiration: SoulCalibur III)

_Uchū no Hanten_  
宇宙の反転  
'The Universe's Inversion'

Radiant Souls

2

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-x- Kamui Dimension, Unknown Time -x-

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After what appeared to be hours later, Naruto yawned and finally got up from his self induced nap. He appeared less agitated than earlier but his worries clouded his mind the moment he rubbed his eyes and remembered where he was. Even if time didn't pass while in the secondary dimension created by the Kamui technique, he was sure it'd been over a day since his unusual arrival. Glancing down at his diminished form—wishing it had been a dream, but thoroughly disappointed it wasn't—he resisted complaining and decided to make do with what he had.

Figuring how the hell he was going to get out was one of his top priorities. Figuring out how to utilize his techniques was the second. Since the first one couldn't be done yet, the second on his mental list would.

"All right, I've to check to make sure I can still use any of my attacks," he began, internally cringing at the lack of his former authoritative voice and at how irritatingly squeaky it sounded now. With a little amount of concentration, he initiated his favorite and signature technique, the Kage Bunshin. Having mastered it to the point of creating them without the hand seal had been one of his glorious accomplishments when he was nineteen—wait, no. Shaking out of his mild confusion, Naruto heard the telltale pop of the shadow clones and looked in front of him. His blue eyes widened in disbelief.

Whatever went wrong, he created ten extra clones than the original odd twenty he intentionally targeted. Not only that, the extra shadow clones painfully reminded him of his attempts at the regular Bunshin technique, something that had been physically impossible for him to replicate in his younger days. In other words, the extras looked ready to keel over and pop. The clones that weren't disfigured gave their brethren sympathetic glances before putting them out of their misery, a wordless command from the original.

"Thank you for that," Naruto nodded to the clones who popped the sickly looking ones, grimacing at the memories he received from them. "Hm, that was troubling. I wonder why they looked so ill and similar to when I try the regular Bunshin. I wonder if it has anything to do with this new size or if my reserves are far too great for it to handle properly." If that was the case, then sadly as it might be to reveal, he currently lacked the chakra control to perform the Kage Bunshin effectively. That seemed to be the only plausible cause, but just to make sure...

The tiny Seventh Hokage held out his right hand, channeling chakra into a spinning rotation of power until the familiar blue sphere of the Rasengan formed. Just as he was about to smile at his success, the spiraling blue orb began to grow out of proportion, and its summoner swiftly halted it seconds it decided to explode in his face.

"That's _definitely_ not supposed to happen," Naruto muttered to himself, a puzzled expression forming on his face. "I know I mastered creating it with one hand. Huh, let me see if the 'old fashioned' way works."

Turning back to his clones, he ordered them to start making Rasengans the way he originally thought of and they proceeded to do so. Each clone paired up with another and while one began producing the chakra while the other spun it in multiple directions. Unfortunately for the clones, once the spiraling spheres were created, the pressure forced them to dispel, making a rather interesting explosive smoke.

"Okay, that settles that. Rasengan's out for the time being." Naruto concluded, expressing a heavily disappointed frown on his face. Shelving the emotion away for now, he decided to go through a checklist of his techniques once again. Once commanding his clones to dispel at 30 second intervals except for five, Naruto concentrated and collected his chakra together, raising its temperature until a boiling steam was literally smoking from his body. It took much longer than he anticipated. Filtering most of it to his left hand, he closed it into a fist and delivered a steam induced punch to one of his Bunshin. It popped the second the attack made contact.

'_I can still perform the Funsuiken sort of, so that's good, although really slowly,_' he deduced before slipping into the Frog Kata stance. Every strike he performed was slow, much too sluggish for his liking, even though he thrust forward with his all. His legs were far too small to accurately time his footwork and he'd accidentally misstep and stumble while shadow fencing his attacks. Thirty seconds into the kata, he fell down, having tripped over his large shirt and feet far too many times within that span of time then he could count. Frowning and thoroughly frustrated, the diminished Seventh Hokage sat up from his fallen position, going over his performance and accurately deemed it terrible.

Iruka-sensei would have definitely given him a failing grade at that sloppy attempt.

"I'm much too short to simulate even a fraction of what I actually know. In other words, my body can't reach the distances, height or the lengths of the strikes as I had been able to before. That's worrisome." Pinching the bridge of his nose in slight irritation, Naruto mentally ran through his list of other techniques. Unfortunately, every other technique he had insisted upon the Rasengan, which he _could not _perform correctly due to his nonexistent chakra control. The others were a few techniques he had assistance from the other Kage, such as his friend Gaara the Godaime Kazekage and Mei Terumī, the former Godaime Mizukage. "Just a setback," he told himself as he stood up once again and contacted his furry friend again.

"Kurama."

"_**Naruto,**_" said companion acknowledged, having seen everything through his host's eyes. "_**Finally going to try it out?**_"

"Yeah, let's go for it. Slowly, just in case." Even though it was supplementary, Naruto didn't want to experience self-destruction like the Rasengan had nearly done to him. Agglomerating chakra together, both Bijū and Jinchūriki steadily prepared for the Kyūbi Chakra Mode or as infamously dubbed by Naruto himself, 'Kurama's Cloak" much to said Bijū's chagrin.

Slowly but surely, the flaming and flickering of the yellowish-orange flame-like substance wrapped around the small boy's frame, black lines detailing around his stomach, arms, face, hands and feet. Once properly transformed, Naruto steadily moved about on his space, throwing occasional punches and kicks, using two of his leftover clones as intentional punching bags.

He stopped and released the cloak with his friend, momentarily sorting through his newly gained memories from the clones he attacked. He noted he tired out just from that but filed it away. "Still too slow," he muttered under his breath, having observed his strikes from their point of views. "And, something doesn't feel right." Mentally throwing his hands up in exasperation over the possible conclusion of his lethargic movements, Naruto moved onto his next task.

Naruto sat down and tried to augment enough nature chakra to enter Sage Mode. Once a full sixty seconds passed mentally, nothing happened. After one hundred and twenty seconds passed, still nothing. The man-turned-boy fidgeted a little in understandable frustration. After what seemed to be five minutes in, he finally had the telltale signs of Sage Mode appear; the orange pigment over his eyelids and both blue orbs turned into the yellow-orange color with the horizontal toad pupil running through each one. Naruto assessed himself and realized just how long that took. Normally it was near instant; he didn't have to sit down to regulate the amount of nature chakra he collected.

However, his unusual, kiddish tendencies banished his adult mannerisms. It virtually took most, if not all of, his willpower to not fidget in place while gathering the chakra together.

However, strange as it was, how could he gather the natural chakra if he was in a Kamui dimension? Counting that oddity aside, then couldn't he go to the "next step" as easily? Well, it was best to utilize said next step—and hope it worked. If it did, perhaps it'd give him an idea of how he could get both him and his partner out of here.

Because, in all honesty, the more they wondered about this oddity, the less it seemed Sasuke was behind this. They drew the conclusion this was more like being some other person's work. The only question was _who_. The only living Uchiha was Sasuke unless someone else illegally possessed a Sharingan for themselves. But, the original question remained: _who_? Both Jinchūriki and Bijū weren't going to get answers anytime soon unless they found their own way out of here.

"_**Moving onto Six Paths, Naruto?**_" Kurama asked, knowing what his partner was up to.  
"Yeah. I need to see if I have access to it, regardless of this new body size and control." Naruto replied, releasing the Sage Mode. Remembering what happened to his Rasengan and Kage Bunshins earlier, he added, "Watch me, partner." Even though he didn't implode from Kurama's Cloak, thankfully, he still wasn't going to take any chances. The Bijū himself would help regulate the flow if something unusually awry occurred.

"_**Will do.**_"

Collecting minimal chakra together—this time a specialized chakra he specifically isolated for this form through reverse engineering his chakra flow—Naruto's body changed yet again. Instead of the golden flame-like chakra cloak surrounding him, this time, only his hair and a materialized light coat were alighted in brilliance. Two spokes of his hair flickered upward, resembling the horns of the man who gave him the chakra necessary to perform this stage, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. Materializing over his current attire was a full "body suit" that was black in color, covering up from his ankles to his neck to his knuckles on his hands. His tiny feet were left as bare as he came but he didn't mind that.

Around his neck were golden magatama, aligned in a ringed pattern. On the back of the 'light cloak's coat' was the symbol of the Rinnegan right above nine more magatama markings. In position behind him formed nine Truth-Seeking Balls, levitating around in a halo formation. His eyes lost their blue and changed into a yellow hue, with the eyes of a both sage and Bijū respectively crossed through.

During the transformation, Naruto noted that his new body twitched violently and unintentionally with each new change his body had undergone. As soon as it completed, he remained motionless, feeling a huge weight press down on him. His eyes began to water, too, and he tried to blink them away. What was that? Putting the oddities aside, Naruto glanced around, wondering carefully with his eyes, in each direction. The small frame still trembled, as if stoked by fear of something unknown or just the immense power the transformation granted.

Before he could do anything, he shut his eyes—the watering of his eyes returning twofold—and the sage cloak suddenly petered out! The miniature Nanadaime fell to his knees, sweat trickling down his face as a small puddle began pooling beneath his forehead as his body heaved, panting for air! What was _that_ all about? Couldn't his body handle it? Sure, he hadn't been able to use it in a long while but that didn't mean he couldn't enter it. This wasn't looking good.

"Damn," Naruto grunted irritably in between breaths. If Kurama's Cloak burned him out then that completely shattered whatever remaining energy he had left. He felt extremely tired. Why had that happened? Was it because he was in an area that nature chakra couldn't be utilized? If that were true, then how...? This was unfortunately becoming complicated. Far more than the Nanadaime would like to admit.

"_**Couldn't have said it better myself.**_"

The small boy shook his head. Something wasn't right. Something was definitely _wrong_. Last he checked, he could use said supplementary technique with ease in a Kamui. Why was this any different? Could it be that this new size was the issue? If it was—

No. Don't think negatively. There had to be something else he could do.

However, everything else was minimally slow at best. His best punches thrown couldn't handle the working flow he synthesized alongside his kicks. The Frog Kata couldn't be put into good use, the Funsuiken could be, to a degree, and sadly, the Rasengan was as good as out in a ball game. Kurama's Cloak could be maintained although it tuckered him out. Never mind the Six Paths cloak being useless in this diminished size. It felt like a ton of needles had been jammed into his stomach like a pincushion, then ripped out quickly to administer another round and someone decided to through brick tons on his stomach and sit on him.

In relatively shorter terms, it was highly unpleasant. The Kage Bunshin, while odd with the clone amount, seemed like the only thing he could do somewhat right. He was rightfully thankful he could perform that one regardless.

Still clutching the scroll that held his things, Naruto sat down, making sure part of his shirt covered underneath his rear. His uncomfortable lack of undergarments was still there, albeit not as strongly as before. "It looks like I can still do a few techniques still, though some will obviously need some working out with the kinks," He mentally glared at the Rasengan pointedly, "And others require chakra control and balance." Naruto tapped his chin before throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Not only that, but I still have to get out of this place. Gosh dammit." The Kamui dimension did nothing to help his aggravation—in fact, it's simplicity furthered his disappointment. His eyes lingered on his tiny toes.

As if the situation couldn't worsen anymore than it already was and mocking him even more, his stomach growled hungrily again, angry at the lack of nutrition its body hadn't received yet. In addition to his adult metabolism, his outward appearance replicated the young, absolute need for any kind of nourishment. Naruto hissed through his teeth, grumbling incoherently at his predicament. If it wasn't the lack of needing social engagement at the moment, he'd surely die from starvation instead. Doing his best to ignore the protest of his body's internal and physical pain, he slapped his hands on his face, sliding them down in slow motion as he attempted to alleviate his building headache. It did no good, unfortunately.

"This honestly couldn't get any damn worse, could it?" He asked no one in particular, his tiny voice squeaking out in echo because of the location.

"_**Don't jinx it.**_"

"I'm not trying to..." The tiny Hokage replied with a wide yawn. Uh-oh. Naruto stopped mid-yawn and closed his mouth, suppressing it and the second one that built up after. He pressed his tiny hands on his mouth in hopes to stall the oncoming yawn. Crap, crap, crap, not again! "No, no, not again." He mumbled, unable to keep bits of the deep inhale of sleepiness from escaping.

The corners of his eyes watered once again after his stubborn attempt to _not_ yawn. Gosh, why was he so tired? Was it because his body was too hungry and suddenly 'shutting down' because it couldn't utilize his willpower properly? Was it because he exerted his new body's limits too far when attempting to use chakra? Was it because he was reduced to this size? After all, toddlers—from his own knowledge—usually took naps during the day after a long exertion of energy. It was normally after lunchtime. But he hadn't eaten anything to soothe the hunger monster that was his stomach yet. Oh yes, he nearly forgot that trying to use the supplementary techniques also contributed to his sleepiness.

'_Perhaps... my body's too tired to stay awake. I must have gone beyond its new limitations. It's not used to exerting such power in short bursts like I've done so far,_' Naruto theorized before a yawn escaped again. '_I still haven't figured out how or why I'm so small like I am, either._' The miniature Nanadaime rubbed his eyes before slapping both of his tiny hands on his chubby cheeks, trying to will himself awake. If only he could use a Water Release technique right about now... But he couldn't if he was so gosh dang tired! "Come on... Just stay awake," the small boy tried to coach himself, though suffice to say, it wasn't working as well as he hoped. "Kurama, help me out here."

The Nine-Tails responded with a low yawn himself but managed to keep awake. "_**Weren't you told yawns are contagious?**_"

"Several times. As I said before..." Naruto stretched and slowly found himself lying down in vain attempt to get comfortable, much to dismay, "It's this body. Can't even stay awake for too long before it collapses. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm hungry..." Before he closed his eyes, his mind drifted to one person's name. '_Hinata..._' His beautiful and expecting wife. What was she doing? Was she all right? What about his friends? Damn, how was he going to get back? A lot of those questions were on his mind even as he fought the irksome drowsiness. Unfortunately for the tiny Hokage, sleep won him over in a heartbeat.

Kurama listened to his partner's plausible explanation, but grew worried about him falling asleep again. Last time, he felt they got lucky, but what about this time? They both silently agreed this wasn't Sasuke's Kamui dimension, and chances are figuring out the culprit were slim to none. They'd both wanted to stay on the alert, but with Naruto, it looked like he wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer. Just as he was about to offer his tiny host of some ideas, he saw that the boy had fallen asleep again, clutching the scroll that kept his things sealed inside.

The large bakegitsune sighed but couldn't pit all the blame on Naruto. He was most likely right on his theory; the diminished form was taking its toll on his adult mentality, forcing him to succumb to its child-like tendencies. It was, regrettably, out of their control.

Knowing he'd be the 'guard dog' again, Kurama lied down himself, closing his eyes but kept his senses on high alert. Just in case something appeared and Naruto didn't wake up—he'd take over and buy them time. Their situation set him on edge. Wherever they were, they'd work together to getting back to their plane of existence. With these thoughts, he gave into his body's will to rest, though not without keeping his senses on the observe.

It wasn't long until he sensed another presence within the Kamui; it felt vaguely familiar, as if the chakra nature were related to fire. The person seemed to be in one place, stationed there like a stature. This piqued Kurama's interest; who was it? He could sense their emotions from where they stood. Intrigue, haste, excitement, and a little bit of hatred were among those of the strongest in the unknown person. Although the reading he was picking up didn't seem so appealing, they could be the only ones to get them out of here, more or less. It was a risk Kurama would be willing to take—even if their intentions was nigh favorable for him and his partner.

'_**Let's see what you're up to, hm?**_' The Nine-Tails thought quietly to himself, waiting for the unknown person to approach his partner's sleeping form. However, if they so much as lift a finger to cause harm, the bakegitsune would surely take over in a blink of an eye and lash out.

Across the distance of the dimension, two eyes of a fully matured Sharingan spun into strange, kaleidoscopic pinwheel shapes, staring at the slumbering child. The figure that materialized out of the swirling vortex appeared male with a strange mask upon his face; he watched the boy, a plan forming in his mind. It appeared the small child had been aware of his location and seemed trained. A clan's heir no doubt. It was a good thing the initial idea of a test trial had been very successful. The technique used to bring this boy here had worked; now they only needed to identify if the child held the Kyūbi within him. If he didn't, well, they'd either kill him, send him back or just discard him elsewhere.

The only way to do either of those was to bring him to the outside world. The figure quickly hopped over, crossing the distance with ease and examined the child's condition. He was still asleep, which was good. While they didn't normally care if their targets were awake when the process happened, it was better if they were asleep. Death was much faster in rest.

The two eyes of the Sharingan spun and a vortex of sorts swirled to "suck in" the child and the figure themselves, leaving the Kamui Dimension empty once more, unaware he was being carefully watched by what was contained in the boy.

* * *

x- _Konohagakure – Tuesday, November 29, 404 NE (Ninja Era)_ -x

* * *

It was a slow going morning of November 29th, especially during the 7 o'clock hour, throughout the village Hidden in the Leaves. While it looked like a good day for anyone, for the shinobi under the Third Hokage, it was anything but. The Third Shinobi World War was coming to a close all due to a crucial mission that had been successful: the turning point being the destruction of the Kannabi Bridge a few weeks prior thanks to Team Minato.

This slightly put Konoha on the winning advantage despite having lost as many numbers as much as the other villages; however, medic-nins were assigned in teams after Tsunade Senju revolutionized medical shinobi on newly christened squads during this time. While this lessened many deaths and injuries, it couldn't be accounted for the majority of the death toll. This unprecedented war was fierce; all villages were guilty of sending fresh genin out of their Academies and into the war front lines. It had to end soon with one nation as the victor. There needed to be peace between them.

The Sandaime Hokage wished and attempted to placate the other nations with a peace treaty after the Kannabi Bridge's destruction. Unfortunately, they weren't having it.

The whole war started due to the fact skirmishes on borders became widely known and the power factor of the nations were dwindling. Each country was guilty of participating in the war. But in order for this to end, there needed to be a deciding factor and one nation would become victorious out of this whole thing. The Sandaime knew who to send out in the front lines to give them said decisive factor. He had the teams in mind and with their leaders arguably being among the strongest ninja in their village barring himself, they'd have their victory on a silver plate. But of course, he was being met with the Konoha Council, three people he knew and trusted to be his councilors. They were doing their job of advising him. The Third knew what he was doing. They just didn't like the outcome.

"Hokage-sama, we understand your reasons for sending out such a capable team however we have a disagreement with this." One of them said. The one who spoke was a moderately old woman with graying brown hair done in a bun. She was as old as the Hokage himself. The Third looked at her almost impassively as she and the other two stood around his desk.

"What seems to be the issue of this decision?" The Hokage asked in a semi disinterested tone.

"Many issues, sir," an old man with short, spiky gray hair and wearing glasses replied. "You're sending the stable Jinchūriki with the unstable Jinchūriki out on the field again. This has us deeply concerned." He adjusted his lens until they were situated upon his face properly.

The old woman was in agreement with this. "The unstable one should remain in the village. Not only for his own protection but for village. The mental suffering he's gone under since a couple weeks prior must be damaging. Who knows if he'll turn on his fellow shinobi should he lose control!"

The third of the councilors, a brown-haired man with also graying hair, who had a cane with both arms leaning upon it nodded his head. "We understand the stable Jinchūriki being placed out on the field as our ace in the hole. Kumo, Iwa and Kiri have utilized their own amid the warring themselves, minus Suna. However, he cannot do both tasks of being on the front lines and keeping an eye out on our second Jinchūriki. That one, we've agreed on, should remain in the village until he is deemed mentally able."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime simply puffed his pipe and stared at his advisers. They had a good reason of course, but his decision had already been made. He knew that with recent events that happened during the war left them with two Jinchūriki, one newly made and the other having been with them since their young age. He did worry for the new one but he had faith in their abilities. The graying Third Hokage placed his hands upon his desk, folded over one another and sighed.

"I understand your sentiments and am fully aware of the issue," he started, "However, my decision has been made already. The two teams I have selected have been assigned as a conjoined unit for this mission; it will be our decisive factor and hopefully put the war in our favor this way. If you haven't noticed, both leaders special in fūinjutsu. They are well refined in that field of study—containing the unstable Jinchūriki will not hinder their progress, should something go wrong." He believed nothing would, so long as those two were on the field together.

The three Konoha councilors still seemed to disagree but resigned. The Hokage did make a good point against theirs. But, they were still concerned nonetheless.

"Don't worry my friends," Hiruzen sought to assuage their worries. These three were his friends; two were former teammates of his as Team Tobirama under the Second Hokage during the First Shinobi World War and the other was a close friend: Homura Mitokado, Hotaru Utatane and Danzō Shimura respectively. "You'll be surprised what those two teams can do together. Have faith in their abilities."

The three around his desk simply nodded. "Very well," the one labeled Danzō began again, "Have you decided upon a successor?" It was no surprise the old war hawk would bring up such a topic at a time like this. The man had been after the Hokage seat ever since Hiruzen had been appointed by Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, before the man sacrificed himself for his team to escape from a tough situation in the First Shinobi World War. Hiruzen had three potential candidates lined up, all with good reasons. The first candidate was one he had personally trained as student; the second was trained by one of his students; and the third one was tutored by another student of his. All of them had devotion to Konoha and only one could be chosen.

It was a tough decision, but he knew in his heart he had chosen right. With a smile, he faced his former comrades in arms and friends. "Yes, I have chosen a successor. When they return from their mission, I will announce it and make it public."

* * *

x- _Village Gates_ -x

* * *

Hurrying through a clan compound and into the village proper, namely in the main direction of Konoha's gates, was a young teenager around fifteen years old. He was garbed in a white short-sleeved shirt with fish-net chain mail underneath and a zipped up navy blue jacket with orange lining along the hems and having moderately long sleeves. Over his that, he was wearing a green, chūnin flak jacket. His navy blue pants and matching sandals made him blend in with the regular shinobi, although not by much. Short, spiky black hair decorated the top of his head and black goggles were worn over his eyes. His black eyes seemingly went along with said shaggy and wild hair but he didn't mind.

This is Obito Uchiha, one of the two chūnin in Team Minato.

He turned down many corners and streets, avoiding the populace and hurrying to the large gates that surrounded Konoha. A bright smile was on his face as he spotted his destination growing closer. Augmenting chakra into his legs, he boosted his agility to his top speed limit and zoomed over, creating a deft gust of dirt behind him. Just as he slid over easily beside the gate, a voice called out to him.

"Late again, _Dobito_."

The black-haired teenager whirled about face to leer at the owner's voice. It was a teen the same age as him with untamed silver hair, wearing a full black body suit with short sleeves, a green flak vest over that and long arm warmers of the grey color. Two belts crisscrossing over his chest in an "x" shape, a tantō strapped to his back, and wearing the usual shinobi sandals. A face mask covered the bottom half of his face and his hitai-ate had been adjusted to slant over his left eye. His single, dark grey eye stared back at the boy, but there was obvious mirth in them.

This is Kakashi Hatake, one of the two jōnin in Team Minato.

Still, it incited a scowl from the other boy. "Shush it, _Bakakashi_! I'm not _that _late! In fact I'm rather on time!" The black haired teenager turned to face another, a man this time, who had been standing by watching. "Right, sensei? I'm on time, right?"

Said sensei smiled just a little. "I'm afraid not, Obito. But don't worry. It was only by a minute this time. You're getting better, but be sure to keep trying, okay?" The boy's instructor said gently.

The man of topic was around his early twenties, with unruly-haired blond with jaw length bangs framing either side of his diamond shaped face. His complexion was bordering tan and porcelain light, which was a fine tone combination for one so healthy. His slender eye shapes held in the crystal blue orbs that were his sharp gaze, though they were now closed for the smiling gesture he currently sported. He was garbed in a long sleeve dark blue shirt with matching shinobi pants, a green flak vest over his chest. Around his left thigh were wraps that held a small black pouch. His sandals matched his pants and shirt, along with the material used to keep his Konoha hitai-ate around his forehead.

This is Minato Namikaze, sensei of Team Minato and the second jōnin within the team.

Beside him was a teenager also around Obito's and Kakashi's age group. She had chocolate brown hair that fell to her shoulders. Her near, equally brown eyes were focusing on her two teammates, though more so at Obito. The emotion in them held resignation at their light banter—they always did that anytime but it lessened over the last couple of weeks. She wore a black shirt, matching shinobi shorts, a white apron of sorts around her waist, black leather leg warmers that adjusted to the person's legs, blue shinobi sandals and the Konoha hitai-ate around her forehead as well. Upon her face were two purple rectangular marks, a clan/family tradition passed onto her, one on each cheek. Her fair complexion complimented her appearance; it was easy to tell she was a medic-nin, trained by Tsunade Senju like many others medic-nin assigned to teams.

This is Rin Nohara, the second chūnin of Team Minato and resident medic-nin of her squad.

"Now that we're all here, let's get going. The other team we're to joined with on this mission went ahead of us not long ago to scout. We'll be able to catch up with them in an hour if we leave now. Our destination is the Konoha-Iwa northwest border. Let's go; try not to fall behind now." Minato stated, getting his students' attention. He motioned for them to follow him and they were soon departing the village, leaping into the nearby trees.

As they were traveling by the tree tops and branches, Rin fell into step with Obito as did Kakashi. They both looked at their teammate with different versions of concern. The brunette's must have been the most obvious since Obito turned to her and frowned. "What's wrong, Rin?"

The girl shook her head. "That was the question I was going to ask you, Obito-kun," She replied, her brow creased with more worry as he tried to deflect attention from himself. Again, for that matter. She was used to that but still. "Are you all right? I mean, with you know...?"

The Uchiha looked ahead to leap onto another branch, making sure he wouldn't run into anything. "I'm fine, Rin. You too, Kakashi. Honestly. It was a few weeks ago, relax!"

"Still..." The Hatake teen insisted. He considered the black-haired boy one of his friends, a friend to trust and respect, even if they had difference before. He was concerned for his teammate, especially the incidents that happened to him during this war so far. It was amazing how the other boy could keep going where other people would have either died or retired.

Obito smiled. His two teammates, his friends, were concerned for him, but there was no need for them to be. He was grateful for them but he needed to alleviate them. He was fine! Sure, the accidents that happened to him were painful and at times he succumbed to his pain. But, the first one, he did it to save them and the second one was more painful than the first. He had Minato-sensei assist with that one. He was eternally glad. The only ones who knew about his second condition were the Sandaime, Tsunade-sama, his team, and his sensei's girlfriend and sensei's former teacher, Jiraiya-sama. No one else knew about it. Not even his fellow Uchiha clansmen.

Not like they would care or anything; he was the clan's black sheep that lived with his grandmother.

"I'm fine, guys. But thank you. Don't worry so much!" He insisted. It took a minute of giving both reassuring glances to get them off his back. For now. Really, it was touching they cared so much, but it wasn't like he was dying.

"Hn, very well then," Kakashi said simply before separating, going his own way but keeping up with Minato-sensei. Rin just offered him a smile of her own but remained beside him as they continued along through the trees, heading for their destination.

* * *

x- _An Hour and a half Later _-x

* * *

Team Minato landed in a small clearing, not to rest but to scout for the other Konoha team. Their sensei knelt down and touched the ground with a single index finger from his left hand, concentrating on the focal point. Heightening his senses, Minato quickly scanned the area through his sensory ability, detecting residue of chakra. Trails felt familiar and others were not; they felt like earth and lightning. The earth natured chakra was pointing northward and the lightning natured chakra pointed eastward. This wasn't good. There had been some techniques that had been used around here, most likely an ambush to scatter a group.

"There's been a scuffle here," Kakashi reported, having seen the the telltale signs of a small battle. Broken branches, the ground being disrupted and the different scents he could detect.

"Iwa-nin?" Rin asked, knowing Earth Release techniques could devastate and disrupt the ground easier than Lightning Releases. The silver-haired boy nodded slowly as his response.

"It was recent, too," the blond-haired teacher informed after. "We need to hurry and locate them."

"Minato-sensei, I can hear clashes of metal!" Obito said as he turned northward, where the earth natured chakra had been pinpointed by the blond not even five minutes ago. "It sounds like a sword... a kodachi, perhaps, clashing with a kunai." Minato stepped forward, standing beside his student and concentrated himself. He could sense it, now that he noticed.

"Kakashi."

"Hai, Minato-sensei. I can smell foreign scents. Among them, there are four familiar ones surrounded by six unknown scents." The teenage Hatake glanced to his teacher, watching the furrow of Minato's blond brows slowly press into a wide, fierce but controlled "v" shape. There were no other words to exchange after that; Team Minato hurried into the direction of the fighting noises, hoping to intercept and add favor the fight.

Five minutes of travel and they encountered a fighting scene between six Iwa shinobi and a Konoha team. Four Iwa-nin were on the ground, dead, and lying in their own pools of blood. The six Iwa-nin surrounded the four man team of Konoha-nin, all with kunai in their hands or getting ready to mold chakra for techniques to use.

There were three teenagers around fifteen years of age, spread apart but not too far away from their teammates. One was a young girl with long, violet hair, dark eyes, a relatively fair complexion with her hitai-ate upon her forehead, dressed in a semi-standard outfit for shinobi and a chūnin flak jacket over it. However, across her back was a sheath for a sword, which was currently being held out before her in a ready stance. The second team member was another young girl with long black hair, red eyes, fair complexion as well and also wearing a standard shinobi attire, but outfitted with a chūnin flak jacket. She was currently holding a kunai out in front of her, staring at the Iwa ninja before her and her team.

The last teenager in the team was a male with a bandanna on his head, the Konoha metal plate insignia placed in the center. Brown side bangs fell out before his ears, framing his face and contrasting his pale tone for skin. He was also outfitted in standard shinobi wear, with a chūnin flak jacket himself over his attire. Instead of a kunai, he was in a familiar stance, of a famous family clan that was apart of Konohagakure. The signature bulging of the veins around his eyes as the white, pupil-less orbs appeared strained but that was not to be. One palm out and the other behind him was the position he was currently in.

The final member of the team was a woman garbed in standard Konoha attire very similar to Minato's, with her headband proudly on display. She currently had an unsheathed daitō in her grip, holding it sideways in a defensive position. She also had a fair complexion that was complimented by the violet color of her eyes—which were narrowed and staring at the Iwa-nin before her and her team. The distinct feature about her was the lovely red hair of hers held into a ponytail.

They were injured and needed some healing.

Before another moment could pass, that's when all six Iwa ninja launched into attack mode!

"Earth Release: Rock Bullet Jutsu!" one of the Iwa-nin, a brunet, shouted his technique. A giant rock formed from the ground and was thrown towards the Konoha-nin! The brown-haired male of the opposing team quickly spun on his heel, performing a rotation technique, Kaiten, to deflect the huge rock from hitting him or his teammates. When that ended, four of the Iwa shinobi brandished their kunai and lunged forward for a direct attack! The purple-haired girl kept one at bay with her sword, followed by the black-haired girl with her own kunai. The red-haired woman dealt with the other two consecutively. The only boy of the team slipped by to deliver a strike to one of their opponents assaulting the cherry-haired woman.

The last two Iwa-nin were molding chakra together and unleashed the same technique simultaneously.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Rampart!" They shouted in unison, their minds thinking quite alike. Beneath the Konoha-nin, the ground was leveling increasingly quick! The brunet of the team widened his eyes as they picked up on something.

"There are needles underneath!" He yelled out, "We must move out of the way!" Unfortunately, he and his team couldn't maneuver out of the way in time because of their opponents purposefully engaging them to remain in one spot. No matter how much they tried to get by or move, the Iwa shinobi were determined to kill them!

By now, Minato had already ordered his team to make their own move.

First, there was a notable _yellow flash _that passed through, taking Konoha team out of the earth release technique's way. It exploded with sharp needles made of the earth below, a bit of a close call. This immediately froze the Iwa shinobi on the spot. They knew, _knew _what that color symbolized. Before they could order a retreat, the next thing the Iwa-nin found out were two teenagers, a silver-haired one and another black-haired one, pairing up together and combining their fighting styles together. One made the mistake of looking into the black-haired boy's Sharingan eyes and fell into a genjutsu the moment he did. The last thing he muttered was "damn Uchiha" before slipping into the genjutsu.

The flash of yellow seemed to blitz around the area like a bursting blur, taking out the remaining Iwa shinobi without stopping until they joined their fellow dead ninja on the ground. It happened so fast, so quick. It was over before it started. Minato took a deep breath as he straightened up and watched his student, Rin, begin administering her medical jutsu upon one of the girls of the other team. The purple-haired girl sheathed her sword once recognizing they were among comrades as did the fiery-haired woman. Her purple eyes widened in relief and surprise at the other team's arrival.

"Minato," She finally spoke up after taking a breath.

"Hai, Kushina. I'm glad we made it in time." The blond replied with a relieved smile of his own. Everyone in the vicinity knew it'd be a cold day in hell if Konoha's Yellow Flash didn't arrive on time to save his girlfriend.

"Tokuma, Yūgao, Kurenai!" Obito announced their names gleefully as he and Kakashi walked up to join them, glancing them over just in case. "I'm glad you three are all right." All six teenagers had been in the same graduating class since they were nine years old and were friends.

By name, Tokuma nodded appreciatively to the Uchiha boy. Unlike their clansmen disliking the other dōjutsu, he and Obito were very good friends and sometimes their teams would be sent out together. With their combined bloodlines working in tandem, missions turned out more and more successful, proving the bad blood between their clans wrong. Still, said clans disapproved of their interactions and tried to prove one dōjutsu was better than the other.

Much like Obito was—still is—the black sheep of the Uchiha, Tokuma was the oddball of his own clan, the Hyūga. He was glad the newly instated Main Branch Clan leader, Hiashi, allowed him to move out of the clan compound and live on his own, provided he use his own salary to pay for his living arrangements.

That was fine with him. Like most Hyūga, he was quiet and respectful, but he _did not_ have a twelve inch pole up his rear. Tokuma couldn't handle being stuffed up there in the compound for long. There were perks to being a Main Branch Hyūga; thanks to his good reputation throughout the clan so far as one of the strongest Byakugan wielders to date, he wasn't branded with the Caged Bird Seal upon his leave from the clan compound. Technically, he still had ties to the clan anyway; he just lived elsewhere. For that, he was grateful and lucky.

Taking advantage of his dōjutsu, Tokuma had also enrolled into Tsunade Senju's medical-nin program when he attended the academy and became a decent medic-nin for his team. So, it was no surprise that he currently had his bloodline activated and concentrating the medical jutsu upon Kurenai Yūhi, the black-haired girl and his teammate. He and Rin finished administering the healing session upon the two girls and rose to their feet, assisting their temporary patients.

"How are you feeling Kurenai?" the Hyūga teen asked after deactivating his Byakugan. It was best to ask the patient after the healing session, just in case. The black-haired girl rolled her shoulders and silently assessed herself.

"I feel fine, thank you Tokuma." She replied with a grateful smile. He returned the gesture with a nod, satisfied his teammate was well. They watched Rin help Yūgao Uzuki, their companion, to her feet and making sure she was all right, too.

"I'm sorry for the little hassle with us back there. Tokuma spotted two different groups and Yūgao sensed them, lying in wait to ambush no doubt. We thought to weed them out before they attacked us," Kushina explained. "We were able to take out the Kumo-nin just as they jumped out and a few Iwa-nin. Those six you took down were the leftovers." She waved off his concerns but was grateful he and his team arrived when they did.

To his credit, Minato wasn't all the way worried. His girlfriend wasn't given the name Red Hot-Blooded Habanero for no reason. He was relieved she and her team were fine and not severely injured. It must have been plain as day when he did visibly show his concern towards her just now.

"Very well. It's not surprising we'd see ambushes along the way. We just have to stay alert and be careful," Minato replied easily, his blue eyes drifting over Kushina every other second. "Let's head out now, in case reinforcements arrive early. Taking the fight to the borders will dwindle the numbers of foreign-nin that step on the Land of Fire's soil."

With battle plans being quickly assigned once they arrived at their destination, the two teams set out once more. By approximation, they would get there within two days at the current speed they were traveling. That is, if they weren't going to be attacked again. Every so often, Tokuma would activate his Byakugan to scan ahead. So far nothing happened, but that didn't mean trouble would be lurking ahead.

'_I hope nothing happens before we get there again,_' Obito thought.

It was a shame that soon, he would be kicking himself for jinxing it. They had traveled at yet another few miles ahead when Tokuma's eyes picked up on something. "Kushina-sensei, Minato-sensei!" He called out to his superiors. Everyone paused on a tree branch to glance at the Hyūga teen for his report.

"What is it?" Kushina asked her student.

"I spotted something very unusual. Two presences, both belonging to people just ahead of us," the boy replied quickly, reading what his eyes saw. "In fact, it's strange how they appeared. It was almost as if from nowhere. It seemed similar to Minato-sensei's Burst Phase."

"He's correct, Kushina-sensei," Yūgao said, gaining attention upon herself. "I sense two presences up ahead. One feels familiar, like fire, and appears strong like you, sensei. The other one is small feels... Very much like Obito." The purple-haired girl turned her dark brown eyes upon the boy in question, who blinked in confusion when everyone looked at him briefly.

"Like me?" The Uchiha repeated and was responded to by a nod. Who in the world could it be? A mysterious twin? Some unknown doppelganger?

Minato and Kushina only glanced at one another before the silent agreement was made. If this was a potential enemy waiting for them or someone to come by, they'd have to take them out as well. Another detour they couldn't afford to take, but they didn't want to risk being surprised and ambushed again. The red-haired woman turned to the six students. "I don't want to take any chances. Kakashi, I'm putting you in charge of our conjoined mission. Take the others with you and head to the border. Our Konoha team will be waiting there and rendezvous with you. We can't waste anymore time with the delays. The faster the team gets there the better. They need a couple more medic-nin on board and that's where Rin and Tokuma come in," her violet eyes roved over each chūnin and single jōnin around them, "Minato and I will handle our ambush problem while you six move on ahead. With Yūgao's sensory abilities and Tokuma's Byakugan, you'll be able to spot future ambushes. Stay alert and don't separate and remember teamwork, understood?"

"Hai Kushina-sensei!" the six said in unison.

"Take care of yourselves. We'll catch up with you all soon." Minato added. The students nodded before advancing further northeast while the pair of sensei headed off for the unknown shinobi's location.

Little did they know that it would be a relative surprise for them...

* * *

x- _Unknown Location _-x

* * *

An inverted swirling motion appeared from nowhere as it materialized into a full grown man in a strange mask. In his grasp was a small child with a much too large of a long sleeve orange shirt bundled around them like a blanket. The child had short, wild blond mop of hair that could be seen easily among the green vegetation the man was currently standing in. '_That's a rush of energy wasted,_' he thought, '_But it was for a good cause. Now, where was the hideout again?_'

He paced quickly through the tall foliage, making sure each step was light. The Third war was still ongoing and he didn't want to be confused for any sort of side. It wouldn't do to be caught up in scuffles between the villages' shinobi. The unknown ninja hurried along, jumping for the trees and hopping from branch to branch, taking advantage of the height to scan his surroundings. '_It should be along the border of the Land of Fire and—_' His trail of thought was interrupted by a _swish!_ of a sound coming from—in front of him! His eyes widened when it was a kunai being launched at him! The masked ninja dodged it, although in its trajectory, it chipped off a piece of his mask.

Damn, that was close. But now, things weren't looking good. He must have been discovered by a shinobi! Just his freaking luck. He thought to throw them off his trail by switching to a different direction—but that was also futile. _Another_ Kami forsaken kunai came up and nearly pinned him to the tree branch he was about to leap from. Blast it all! Before he realized it, a yellow blur had accosted him and he was thrown in a random direction, tumbling unto the ground with a shoulder wound. The hell? The masked ninja stood up and standing not too far away from him were two people he wished he'd never cross before.

There, standing some ways from him were two of Konoha's famous ninja that earned their name during this very war they were apart of. The Yellow _fucking_ Flash was there alongside the deadly Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. They say her red hair is the last thing anyone will see when she makes them choke on their own bloody fluids when she slayed them. Definitely not an image anyone would like to conjure upon themselves. The woman had her blade unsheathed and the Yellow Flash had something orange bundled in his arms—wait a second.

The masked man quickly checked for his passenger, only to notice he was _not _within his grasp any longer. That meant... Yes. They have the boy! And by the looks of it, they weren't going to kindly hand him back over if he asked. No, no, no! They worked too hard on the technique. Losing the first round of success was much too important to lose to any ninja, let alone Konoha! He'd have to get his prize back, even if it meant facing against the two most fearsome duo of shinobi to ever appear. Even if it meant walking right into death's embrace—he'd do it! Others knowing about their plans, whether discovering it through their techniques or not, was dangerous. It couldn't fall into any other grasp or it'd be ruined!

So, without further or do, he whipped up his own kunai and began attacking them! Predictably, they both dodged, separating rather than remaining together. The Habanero came up from his left and swung her blade in a wide arc, unleashing a wave of Fire natured chakra. Okay, so the "hot" part of her name must come from her elemental affinity of fire. Perfect. He managed to dodge the sword's strike but the fire? Not so much. He winced when it came in contact but knew he couldn't give up. Everything was literally at stake here!

He and the Habanero clashed, sword and kunai, in a fierce dance of wills. As long as the child was within their company, they would fight until the death. She was giving him her all and he was trying to overpower her. He managed to nick her in the arm though she delivered a slash to his chest. It would have been fatal, had he not maneuvered in a queer likeness as he had. That was too close for comfort. She was bleeding and so was he, although the first injury he sustained wasn't helping any. They jumped away from one another to assess the situation. This wasn't looking so good, and now that he noticed, the Yellow Flash was administering a small dose of medical jutsu upon the child. Damn it, he had to get that kid back!

Switching his kunai for his tantō and unsheathing it, the masked man lunged for the blond-haired man, intending to slice him in two. He didn't get far as the daitō of the red-haired woman was in his face for just the briefest of seconds before he was launched _away _from his targets, sporting a new bruise and slash mark on his mask. When he looked up, the woman was glaring daggers at him with her violet eyes, sword pointed in his direction. He clearly pissed her off the nth degree if she was giving him such a look. Oh boy. More shit on his plate, great!

Still, he couldn't let this go. He would fight until he couldn't anymore.

He ignored his physical pains and rationality was kicked to the curb as he rose from his place on the ground and charged once more, sword out and eyes ablaze. He forgot about them momentarily. He'd place her in a genjutsu and kill her off! Hah, what an ingenious idea. With his dojutsu activated, the masked man swept his blade to the left, predictably intercepted by the Habanero's rightward slash. Thanks to his bloodline, he could see what she'd do in slow motion; though it still seemed her strikes were coming at the same speed as before. He blocked one, then another and another, keeping pace with her as much as possible, gathering the necessary chakra in his eyes to cast the illusion. During their second clash, he was met with another few injuries and the red-haired woman suffered a couple scrapes from his own attacks. Okay, things were looking up. Finally when they were in a deadlock, the tomoe in his eyes spun counterclockwise, inducing the illusion upon her. Her eyes widened when they connected and he could only laugh gleefully when falling prey to such a simply tactic.

His victory was cut short when the yellow blur attacked him again, this time knocking him flat on the ground and forcing him to release his tantō. Also? Another damn slash, very close to his neck. Crud, he forgot about the Yellow Flash! The man in question leered at him with icy blue eyes, still holding the orange bundled child in his grasp. Almost as if taunting him. A few seconds later, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero released herself from the genjutsu. She was smiling wickedly at him. How did she get free so fast?

"I'll give you credit; you actually managed to catch me off guard there," she admitted, "But you're dealing with a fūinjutsu user here."

Crap.

"Missing-nin kidnapping children... I can't forgive that!" She continued venomously.

"And neither can I." The blond agreed.

Okay, attacking these two head on and _alone _was a terrible idea. He'd rather suffer from his failure than die by the hand of these two. It was bloody impossible to defeat one of them, let alone both! The masked man wasn't a coward by no means—he knows when he's defeated. And if the Yellow Flash so much as used the Flying Thunder God technique on him again, he'd be done for. Weighing out the loss and the consequences, it was best to face his leader and return than not pursue the child. He could come back for them—they'd predictably take the brat to Konoha. War orphans were normally adopted into one of the main villages. Konoha was known for accepting orphaned kids from the aftermaths of wars.

In the long run, he'd be able to return and grab the kid. For now, a hasty retreat was the best course of action.

"It appears I'm no match for the both of you," he admitted, taking tentative steps back as they glared at him. "But make no mistake. We will return. That boy... will fall into our grasp one way or another. One day, the Ōmagatoki will hunt him down wherever he'll be. There is no escape..." Before neither could make another move, the masked man allowed himself to escape via the vortex technique that could only be done with a bloodline of his clan. They were left in relative silence, waiting for nothing to come.

...

"...He's gone, Kushina. I can't sense him." Minato informed his girlfriend, who was scanning in all directions for the kidnapper. "He escaped through that...strange tunnel thing he made."

The enraged woman calmed down and huffed. That bastard got away before she could give him the serious beat down of his life! Even though Minato appeared calm and collected, she knew he was thinking about maiming that man. Disgusting people like him, kidnapping young children like that! The poor thing must have been so terrified that he passed out from shock. Her gaze softened when they landed upon the unconscious child in her boyfriend's arms.

"How is he, Minato?"

The blond gazed down at the sleeping boy and nodded. "He's fine, Kushina. Just very tired and hungry, from what I examined of him. He doesn't appear injured in any way. A case of chakra exhaustion, though." He assessed. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. He just needs some rest and something to eat and he'll be good to go."

"Oh, good." the red-haired Konoha-nin said with a breath of relief. Both adults examined the child further, wondering who he belonged to. His untamed blond hair, tanned complexion, those cute little whisker marks on his cheeks and tiny frame bundled up in that much too large of an orange shirt. He looked absolutely adorable. For a moment, Kushina couldn't help but stare at her boyfriend holding the kid. One day, they would be like that, holding their own child in such a loving way. They would have a family together, and to be honest? She couldn't wait!

But, they were still on a mission and no matter how much she wanted to cuddle the little boy as if he were a stuffed animal, she couldn't. Both of them knew it. Together, they bit their thumb and slammed into the ground in unison.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

In a pop of smoke, two animals were revealed. One was a medium-sized male toad with a red tone, blue tones around his eyes and head and wearing green goggles around his neck. The second was a medium-sized female tiger with brown stripes running down her white fur coat vertically. Around her neck was blue scarf, tied neatly together. Both summons attention were on their respective summoner.

"Kōsuke, apologies for summoning you, however there's an urgent message I need you to deliver to the Sandaime and to Tsunade at the hospital," Minato spoke to the red toad.

"Ah-hum, of course Minato! Let me know and it'll be done in a jiffy!"

The blond nodded and quickly informed the toad of the message he needed relayed as well as specific instructions for Tsunade when he arrived. While he was doing that, Kushina turned to her summons and smiled. The white tiger returned it.

"Byakko."

"Kushina-san, how may I assist you?" the white tigress asked, her silver eyes watching her summoner intently.

"Minato and I found and saved a child from a possible missing-nin's clutches," the woman began, "He's not injured from what we could tell but needs to be taken to the hospital right away for chakra exhaustion. I'd rather have Tsunade look him over in case we missed any details. Can you bring the boy to Konoha's hospital for us?"

"No need to say it twice," Byakko said as she took a moment to spot the child himself in Minato's arms. "The poor fella. I promise to take good care of him, Kushina."

"Thank you."

Minato glanced sadly at the boy before relinquishing him over to Byakko. The white tigress took the child from him and with a look at Kōsuke, both vanished in a puff of smoke, taking the boy and their messages with them. Forever appeared to have passed before either started talking or moving again.

"Kushina, did you feel that?" Minato asked out of the blue.

"...I did," she replied, her hand resting upon her heart. "I-I don't know why, but when I saw that little boy, my heart suddenly ached for him. It was different than what I usually feel about orphaned or kidnapped children."

"I felt like I knew him just by being close to him like that. It was strange..." the blond replied after her, tilting his head. Strange as it was but it caused a much deeper feeling to surface. From that particular feeling, it was either bad, very bad or in the rare occasion, a good thing. He hoped it was the latter. "Perhaps after the mission we can go visit him." Kushina instantly brightened at the idea.

"Okay, let's do that. But first, let's complete the mission."

Minato nodded and soon, the pair turned and headed off in the direction their students went. In the back of their minds, their thoughts were upon not just the mission details itself but that boy. Who was he? Why did he make them feel that way? They couldn't help but worry over the mystery boy's condition and wonder if he'll get better.

Deep down in an unknown space, a knowing stare from red eyes with a cat-like slit running through them was staring off at nothing. A thoughtful look crossed its face, the beast wondering what that feeling it felt was about. It felt very familiar to its own, no doubt, and it was, to say the least, a tad frightening. That had to be its own power! But how, if it was here? How could it be in two places at once? What manner of human idiocy and sorcery was this? '_**Whatever it is... I do not like it. I will get to the bottom of this mess and soon. When my host visits that brat, I will find out. Until then, I must bide my time...**_'

Unaware, however, the small boy had seen those two people, just briefly when they hadn't noticed. One thought crossed his mind before he drifted off to the world of unconsciousness once again: he _had _to be dreaming if he saw _those _two before his very eyes! Or, some seriously strong genjutsu. It had to be a genjutsu, right? Because, those two seriously weren't his parents right then and there, right? He was all types of confused. But one thing was for certain, and the last conscious thing he told his partner, sarcastically, was this:

'_This is fan-freaking-tastic, Kurama._'

* * *

Stuff:

_Burst Phase_ – A made up bloodline for Minato. I didn't want to use the cliché Hiraishin anymore, so yeah. The full thing is Flash Release: Burst Phase. It's apart of a nature transformation I also made up (I hope). It's combined Lightning and Fire natures. How this works is similar to the Flying Thunder God, just imagine without the sealing tags on kunai and being keyed into the user's chakra with every step. Also, the burst part comes from the effect the move does. Mostly wind though. I have this written down in kanji; the long days of researching this was grueling but I did it for my story. If anyone's interested, I'll post it in the next chapter.

_Ōmagatoki_ – The opposite of Akatsuki, of course. (literally)

_Byakko_ – I gave Kushina a summons. Tigers seemed fitting for her since tigers can be very fierce creatures and seemed to suit her hot-tempered attitude. Also, this name is literally the meaning of the White Tiger in Japanese. Loloriginal *Galdr is shot*

There you have it. I'll be working on ch.3 in the meantime. Deepest apologies for the wait!

Review if you like. Don't review if you don't like. Saves me from the flames and saves you from doing something incredibly useless. Constructive criticism, however, is welcome.


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